Chapter 326 Nelson II

Although the road from Losa Basin to Fort William has been built and paved with stone slabs, once it snows in winter, the snow will still accumulate in the valley, blocking the road and preventing the army from passing. Richard can only cross the mountains with a few professional officers.

On October 28, Richard came to the Nelson area again.

This year is the second year that the Nelson area has been incorporated into the Harland Territory. The 20,000 indentured slaves who settled in this area last year have resumed production this year. In addition, thousands of families of second sons and daughters in the Fort William area have migrated to the vicinity of the Nelson area this year.

The Harland Territory has always implemented the eldest son inheritance system, and the second sons and daughters have no right to inherit property. When the second sons and daughters grow up, in addition to working in nearby towns and factories and mines to become citizens and workers, they can only choose to go to desolate areas to open up wasteland in order to get land, otherwise they can only stay at home and suffer the cold eyes of their eldest brother and sister-in-law.

Being looked down upon will undoubtedly hurt one's self-esteem. Many young people in Harland have no choice but to leave their hometowns and open up wasteland under the organization of the government to fight for themselves.

Especially the Nelson area, located on both sides of the Black River, has very fertile land. It is located in the south of Harland territory and far away from the orcs. It is a popular area for land reclamation. Many people sign up every year.

This territory is not a wasteland. The Nelson family has been operating here for decades, reclaiming more than 400,000 acres of land, building three castles and dozens of villages.

The free people who migrated to this area have ready-made houses to live in, and do not need to live in simple shacks.

Compared with opening up wasteland on the northern front, going to the Nelson area is undoubtedly a good job. Most of those who can be assigned to the Nelson area are people near the capital Fort William.

Last year, the Nelson area was assigned about 600 free people, and this year it was assigned about 2,500 people.

Although these newly assigned free people are all second sons and daughters and have no inheritance rights to houses and land, their parents will give them some financial support, and everyone can get some cash.

Although they have just settled down, their lives have become stable.

Richard came to Hewan Village again with a small group of more than ten people.

Hewan Village is located at the bend of the Black River, more than ten kilometers away from Felin Castle and even closer to Tongshan Town, only four or five kilometers away.

Hewan Village is under the management of Felin Castle and belongs to Salt Lake County, while Tongshan Town is a town under the jurisdiction of Graveson County.

This place is considered to be the border between the two counties, but the population is not sparse. There are more than a dozen villages on both sides of the Black River, and the total population of dozens of miles is more than 10,000.

With the increase of permanent population and the recovery of production, Richard is ready to adjust the administrative planning and build a new Nelson County. The economy of this county has recovered by more than half, and the population has exceeded 30,000.

Salt Lake County is a priority development area of ​​Harland Territory. Richard has invested a lot of resources in this county. In recent years, he has built several fortresses such as Nitburg, Imburg, Reindeer Fort, and North Boundary Fort.

At the end of this year, Richard plans to build Nelson County and Eym County in Salt Lake County. Nelson County is under the jurisdiction of Viscount Far Nelson, and Eym County is under the jurisdiction of Eymburg and Nitburg. Including the garrison in Nitburg, the population of this county has exceeded 20,000.

Now Salt Lake County has four counties: Graveson, Salt Lake, Nelson, and Eym.

Among them, Graveson County has developed the best. It is a well-known large and rich county in Harland Territory, with a total population of more than 80,000. The territory not only has good agricultural conditions, but also has very good industrial development, especially Tongshan Town, which is the center of copper smelting and copper production in Harland Territory.

The development speed of Salt Lake County is also very fast. It is the salt industry and natural fertilizer production area of ​​Harland Territory. Richard also plans to focus on the development of salt chemical industry in this county. With the continuous investment in resource development, the population of Salt Lake County has exceeded 40,000.

The entire Salt Lake County has a population of more than 170,000, and there are 14,000 main and auxiliary troops stationed in the county.

Richard had inspected Hewan Village last year. When he came to the village again this year, he found that most of the people in the village were carrying food and queuing up to grind flour in the mill.

Being able to eat flour is enough to show that the free people in Harland Territory have greatly improved their living standards.

For the serfs in other noble territories in the northern border, being able to eat a meal of wheat rice is already a favor from the goddess of dawn. Most of their food is dried sweet potatoes and wheat porridge. In summer and autumn, they also dig wild vegetables and eat tree bark and grass roots.

The mill was built by contract slaves last year and is driven by water. In order to build this mill, the local government built a stone canal at the entrance of the village. Building a large water-driven mill is undoubtedly a big project for the productivity at this time.

Now it is about to enter November. According to the climate in previous years, the Black River will freeze in early November and freeze in late November. Seeing that the water mill in the village is about to be unusable, the villagers lined up one after another, wanting to rush to grind the wheat at home into flour while the Black River water is not frozen.

Richard had a very good memory and found Clayton again in the crowd.

After a year, Clayton's living conditions were undoubtedly better. He was the village chief of this village. He could still get a place in line after becoming the village chief. Richard undoubtedly had more confidence in the village governed by Clayton.

Clayton's eldest brother had served in the army and made meritorious contributions, and his second brother was also a public servant. This kind of family was considered to be a legitimate family in Harland County, and the channels for advancement were far greater than those of new immigrants.

After seeing Richard and others, Clayton thought for a moment, and suddenly his face changed. He said a few words to the villagers around him, handed the food on the wheelbarrow to his companions to take care of, and trotted all the way over.

As soon as Richard and his entourage dismounted, they saw Clayton bowing and saluting, panting and saying: "Master Duke, the weather is cold. Come to my house for a cup of hot tea!"

Richard waved his hand and said very politely: "Clayton, we meet again. How many people are there in your village this year?"

Clayton answered skillfully: "Dear Lord Duke, this year sixty-five households of freemen were allocated to the village. Counting the twenty households last year, there are now eighty-five households of freemen in the village, a total of 380 households." Fourteen people.”

"I remember that there were more than 500 indentured slaves living in your village last year. Why can't we see them this year?"

"Reporting to the Duke, the village has a sufficient population this year and has resumed production. Most of the indentured servants have been transferred to other places."

Richard thought for a moment and continued to ask: "I remember that your village has a total of 3,000 acres of arable land and a working population of more than 100 people. Can it be cultivated?"

Clayton replied: "Because part of the land needs to be left fallow, our village actually needs to cultivate two thousand acres of land. On average, each laborer needs to cultivate more than ten acres, and agricultural production is inseparable from large livestock. This spring, the government mobilized a large number of The draft animals were rented to the villagers, and we barely completed the spring plowing. This year's harvest was very good. Many families sold their grain and bought large livestock from the government. My family also bought a draft horse and a plowing ox. "

Seeing that Hewan Village's economy was developing well, Richard had a smile on his face. "It looks like your harvest is pretty good this year!"

Clayton replied: "Thanks to the Goddess of Dawn, and to the Duke, the average yield of paddy fields in our village this year is 320 kilograms per mu, and the average yield of dry fields is 180 kilograms. Most of the land in the village can be irrigated by water from the Black River. There is very little dry land, and everyone has a very high income level after the food harvest. I have made simple statistics and found that the average income of each free household is more than six gold coins. I am the mayor of this village, and the government will distribute it every year. With a subsidy of four gold coins, the income level is already higher than that of the soldiers of the main army."

Clayton can be regarded as the new generation of grassroots cadres led by Harland, and his speech is already somewhat proficient. These young cadres have all read books, and their quality is far superior to that of the old people.

Haaland leads the first generation of grassroots cadres, many of whom are from serfs. The cadres transferred from the military have been tempered by the war and have slightly better literacy training. Many local grassroots cadres are uneducated and dare not speak when they see Richard. They have a little power. , all like to bully the people they lead.

Over the years, Richard has patrolled everywhere and dealt with many people personally. An Inspectorate was also established, with Hayden appointed as Chief Inspector, to supervise the conduct of officials. Although they tried their best, the administration was still somewhat poor, and they were unable to deal with the shortcomings of the bureaucracy.

When Richard came here last year, the villagers in this village still needed relief funds. Only one year later, the villagers in this village were already eating flour. Richard looked around and found that most of the villagers had purchased coal in their yards for the winter. A few poor families also have enough firewood in their yards. Even if there are no big animals, they can still have enough to eat and avoid freezing to death.

Seeing that the territory was developing very well, Richard was very happy.

After leaving Hebend Village, Richard inspected several villages along the Black River and found no major problems, and then rushed to Feiling Castle before dark.

The mayor of Felin Castle is named Parson. He comes from a professional family in Black River Castle. His father is William's comrade in the Northern Army. After the Harland family became prosperous, Parson was one of the first to defect.

After ten years of development, Parson was promoted from an ordinary civil servant to the head of Feiling Township, and his status has far surpassed that of his father.

Now that Nelson is about to be established as a county, Richard discussed with Rogge and decided to promote local officials to maintain stability in the Nelson area.

Now Parson's position will also usher in a critical step. Becoming the county magistrate in Harland is regarded as being promoted to the top of the civil service system. The status and treatment are very different from those of lower-level officials.

After entering the castle, Richard went directly to Parson and praised several village chiefs who performed well, focusing on Clayton.

"Nelson is about to be established as a county. How much tax will you pay this year?"

Richard's question caught Parson off guard. He hurriedly flipped through the account books and carefully searched for the data before answering: "There are only more than 3,000 free people in our county, and the land tax received this year is 1,080." Six gold coins, house installment payment is 120 gold coins, and other taxes add up to less than 300 gold coins.

However, the more than 20,000 indentured slaves under our management have brought very large profits to the territory. In addition to the rations and grain left behind, our county sent more than 40,000 tons of grain to the grain depot.

Although the consumption capacity of the Nelson area is still insufficient, the potential of agricultural production has been demonstrated. In addition, silver mines have been discovered during exploration. A base has been prepared to build a base fifteen kilometers northwest of Feiling Castle to prepare for silver smelting. I personally believe that the conditions for establishing a new county are already in place. "

Seeing that Parson was in a hot mood, waiting for the promotion appointment, Richard smiled and understood this mood very well.

Officials within the Harland Territory cannot be saints. Everyone has their own interests and can maintain the overall development of the territory. Richard is already very happy.

After inspecting the Nelson area, Richard found that Parson was quite conscientious and conscientious. Although it was unclear how strong his abilities were, he did not have many bureaucratic shortcomings. He was neither greedy nor stupid.

"Please rest assured that the establishment of the county this year has been confirmed. I have discussed with Governor Rogge that in principle, officials will not be recruited from outside. You are about to receive a new appointment. But please continue your efforts, do a good job, and manage well. In the Nelson region, we must not only develop the economy, but also maintain the stability of Nelson. We must also manage the government well and not let the bureaucrats oppress the free people in the territory.”

Richard gave Parson a reassurance, rested for a night at Felin Castle, and came to Tongshan Town the next day.

During the day, Richard inspected the villages near Tongshan Town, accepted complaints and lawsuits from free people, dealt with two grassroots bureaucrats in the morning, and met with the mayor of Tongshan Town, Rom, in the evening.

Rom is a transferred military cadre, a former third-level professional, and an acquaintance of Richard. In the battle with the orcs, Rom lost four fingers on his left hand and became a disabled person who could not hold a sword. After the war, Röhm retired from the army and moved into the government service.

Although Tongshan Town is in a mountainous area, it is the center of Harland's copper industry. As long as copper mines can still be mined, Tongshan Town will continue to prosper.

In recent years, there have been tens of thousands of people near Tongshan Town. Since a few years ago, a mint has been established in Tongshan Town, and the annual income from minting is also a large amount of money.

"How is your health lately?"

Seeing that Richard was approachable, Rom was very excited. "Thank you, Mr. Duke, for your concern. My health has recovered well after retirement, and it is much easier to work locally than in the army."

"How is the situation in Tongshan Town this year?"

Rom replied: "Very good. We have mined more than 200 tons of copper this year. The mint is operating day and night all year round. In recent years, copper coins have been minted on a large scale. The territory no longer suffers from the shortage of copper coins.

Relying on mining copper mines, manufacturing copper products, and setting up coin mints, Tongshan Town's economic development has grown rapidly. The total number of workers in various copper industries exceeds 3,000. The income of these people is generally around six gold coins, and they are also considered high-income people in the territory. "

Tongshan Town has been developed for many years, and most of the locals are free citizens. Due to their high income, a large consumer market has been formed. There are various businesses in the castle, which makes it very prosperous.

Through observation, Richard discovered that Harland specialty consumer goods such as liquor, brown sugar, and soap have entered the homes of ordinary people. Many people wear colorful dyed fabrics, and the accumulation of wealth among the people has exceeded that of the Nelson area.